我國第三批航天員選拔瞄上工程師

China will start to recruit and train the third generation of its astronauts beginning next year and will turn engineers into space fliers.

我國從明年起將啓動第三批航天員的選拔和培訓工作，工程師將"變身"航天員。

Huang Weifen, a deputy chief designer with the Astronaut Center of China, revealed the plan at a news conference in Beijing last Friday about three hours after two Chinese astronauts returned to Earth from their monthlong space journey.

中國航天員中心副總設計師黃偉芬上週五在北京的一個新聞發佈會上透露了這一計劃，當時距我國兩名航天員完成一個月的太空之旅，返回地面剛過去約三個小時。

Huang said that to meet the requirements for a future space station, they will expand the candidates' scope, by selecting not only pilots from the Chinese Air Force but also engineers in the space industry.

黃偉芬說，爲滿足未來空間站的需要，他們會擴大候選者的範圍，不僅要從空軍中選飛行員，還要從航天工業中選工程技術人員。

Those engineers will be trained to become spaceflight technicians to take part in future missions.

這些工程技術人員將被培訓成航天飛行技師，參與未來的任務。

The preparatory work is proceeding well, she said, adding that the success of the Shenzhou XI-Tiangong II mission has shown that China is now able to support astronauts' long-term stay in space.

她表示，籌備工作進展順利。此外她還表示，神舟十一號與天宮二號任務的成功已經表明，中國現在完全能夠支持航天員在太空中長時間停留。

Also at the news conference, Wang Zhaoyao, the agency's director, said that the country will launch its first cargo spacecraft, Tianzhou 1, in the first half of next year to dock with Tiangong II.

同樣是在該新聞發佈會上，中國載人航天工程辦公室主任王兆耀表示，我國將在明年上半年發射第一艘貨運飛船天舟一號，與天宮二號完成對接。